Foreword

Over the past two decades, extraordinary work on attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has changed the way we think and treat this disorder. Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults and Children is an important work that will help those seeking authoritative information to understand ADHD in a contemporary manner as a serious neuro-biological disorder with available, excellent and varied therapeutic options. Far from earlier thoughts that ADHD is a fleeting mild disorder affecting only a small number of boys that remits by adolescence, we now know that ADHD is among the most common neuro-behavioral disorders estimated to afflict up to 10% of children and 5% of adults worldwide. We also now know that ADHD is frequently associated with a wide range of other psychiatric, addictive, and cognitive disorders across the lifespan, and carries with it a very substantial personal and societal burden including academic and occupational underachievement, delinquency, motor vehicle safety, and difficulties with personal relationships. New findings on genetic liabilities, emotional dysregulation, and cognitive deficits have also been elucidated. A convergence of findings linking neuropsychological deficits, specific brain anatomy, and specific neurocircuitry are disentangling the neural basis of ADHD and related conditions in a developmentally sensitive manner. Although historically ADHD was thought to remit by adolescence, well-conducted, long-term controlled follow-up studies have clearly shown the persistence of the disorder and its associated impairments onto adulthood. Research has also established the syndromatic continuity between pediatric and adult ADHD. The recognition of ADHD as a valid disorder in adults has led to the increasing identification and treatment of adults with ADHD. While no textbook can cover every aspect of a complex disorder such as ADHD, Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder in Adults and Children provides a broad depth of coverage of key aspects of this disorder written by a group of accomplished experts in the field. Without any doubt, readers of this book will be better able to understand and appreciate the voluminous new information on ADHD, and by doing so will better the lives of those touched by this disorder.